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11: Masters Winners by Country

Often referred to as US Masters, qualifying golfers from all over the world are invited every year, not just Americans.

While it may be true that most competing players – and winners – have been American, there are 11 countries in total who have won the major at one point or another in its 87 year history. 

The Masters is becoming more diverse than ever. In 2021, players representing 23 different countries have been invited to compete.

Of the 87 players, 46 are international players while just 41 are US nationals. 

Carlos Oritz of Mexico and Englishman Joe Long are among a handful of players making their Masters debut this year. 

Ahead of the 2021 event, here’s how the winners’ nationalities have been divided up so far: 

United States – 62 wins

South Africa – 5 wins

Spain – 5 wins

England – 4 wins

Germany – 2 wins

Scotland – 1 win

Wales – 1 win

Fiji – 1 win

Canada – 1 win

Argentina – 1 win

Australia – 1 win

Gary Player became the first non-American player to win the Masters in 1961. 

Player won over 160 professional tournaments on six continents over seven decades and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. 

Honorary starters and Masters champions Gary Player of South Africa (left) and Jack Nicklaus (right) stand on the first tee during the First Tee ceremony to start the first round of the 2019 Masters. (Image: Getty)

More from the countdown series: the highest score in Masters history

Nick Faldo became the first non-American to successfully defend his title and win the tournament two years in a row in 1989 and 1990.

The Englishman shares the record for most consecutive wins with two of golf’s biggest legends, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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12: Where did the Green Jacket Tradition Come From?

Anyone who wins the Masters is allowed to keep the famous green jacket for 12 months, until the next event is played.

After that, the jackets are kept in Augusta in their very own special-purpose cloakroom.

This tradition, like everything else, was interrupted in 2020 when the 2020 Masters was postponed until November due to the coronavirus outbreak. This means that last year’s winner, Dustin Johnson, will have only had his jacket for 6 months before he has to hand it back in to Augusta National.

2020 aside for a moment, let’s take a look back at the story behind the green jacket in honour of the 12-month tradition.

It was never meant to be part of the award ceremony…

The iconic Masters green jacket was not always given to those who win the tournament in the way it is today. In fact, it was first introduced in 1937 as a uniform for members of the club to wear so that they could be recognised by visitors. 

The first time it was presented to the winner at the award ceremony was in 1949, to Sam Snead.

Snead, who that year didn’t get off to the best start in the first two rounds after posting a 73 and 75 in the first rounds, won by three strokes after posting two consecutive rounds of 67 at the weekend.

Sam Snead (R) stands with Byron Nelson (L) and Gene Sarazen (C) at the 1999 Masters at Augusta National, fifty years after being awarded his first of three green jackets.

Not to be left out of the fun, the jacket was also awarded retrospectively to the previous 12 winners up until then. 

Since then, the previous year’s winner presents that year’s winner with the jacket.

World number 1 Dustin Johnson was awarded the Green Jacket by 2019 Masters champion Tiger Woods during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the 2020 Masters. (image: Getty)

Gary Player was famously the only Masters winner who didn’t bring back his jacket the next year after winning his first Masters title in 1961. At the time, he claimed to have accidentally left it at home in South Africa. 

Green jackets for sale, anyone?

Short of winning the Masters itself, the only way you can get your hands on a green jacket of your own is if you have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare.

Horton Smith, the winner of the very first Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934, had his jacket sold at auction for $682,229 in 2013. It’s said that no other piece of golf memorabilia has ever sold for such a high price.

Pantone 342 is the official colour of the jacket. However, due to various changes in manufacturers over the years, the tone can differ slightly from year to year. 

It’s just over 2 weeks until we find out who Dustin Johnson will present the next green jacket to.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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Unlucky 13: the record high at the Masters

History is made on the golf course when a player does something that no other player has ever done before.

The best remembered records are usually for players who have – in a good way – outperformed all others in their field.

Unfortunately for Tom Weiskopf, Tommy Nakajima and Sergio Garcia this is not always the case. 

As far as records go, one you probably don’t want on your repertoire is the record for the highest record score above par on a single hole at the Masters – 13.

Last November, many thought that Tiger Woods’ 7 above par on the 12th hole at Augusta might have been the highest on Masters record. It wasn’t, but we’ll get back to that later in the series. 

Tommy Nakajima of Japan, was the first to reach unlucky number 13 at the Masters in 1978 – on the 13th hole, no less. Next came American Tom Weiskopf in 1980 on hole 12 and then, after a long wait, Spaniard Sergio Garcia in 2018 on the 15th. 

More from the countdown series: Apollo 14 and the first golfer in space

“I don’t like to be one of the three that is always going to be mentioned as making the highest score on any hole. But it sure doesn’t haunt me,” Weiskopf said, reflecting on the shot.

Tom Weiskopf reacts to the crowd after sinking an 80-foot putt on the second hole during second round play in the US Open 1996 (Image: Getty)

And neither it should. Weiskopf has had an otherwise successful career, picking up 16 PGA Tour titles and winning the British Open in 1973 in Troon, Scotland. 

It’s Garcia, however, whose 13 on the 15th in 2018 contributed to the single worst round in Masters history: 169, or 97 over par. With that, the previous year’s green jacket winner made history two year in a row.

Sergio Garcia accepts the Green Jacket from Danny Willett after winning in a playoff during the final round of the 2017 Masters Tournament on April 9, 2017 in Augusta, Georgia. (Image: Getty)

No other player can recount such highs and lows at the Masters in such a short space of time.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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14: to Augusta and Beyond

Next up in our countdown series we’re asking: what’s the furthest golf has ever been played from Augusta?

Technically speaking, it’s the moon. Astronauts hit a few golf balls on the moon’s surface during the Apollo 14 mission.

A bit too far to go to get some swing practice?

Apollo 14 was the third manned lunar landing mission. Between January 31 to February 9th 1971, it was commanded by Alan B. Shepard, Jr, who had been the first man in space.

1971: Astronaut Alan B Shepard holds the pole of a US flag on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission. (Image: Getty)

Of the three astronauts aboard, Edgar D. Mitchell was the youngest at age 40 and lived until 2016.

November 1970: Apollo 14 Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. (Image: Getty)

Commander Shepard hit two golf balls with a six-iron head strapped to the handle of a tool used for sample collection.

He also holds the record for the first (and only) extra-terrestrial hole in one after they found one of the golf balls in a crater.

Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. is seen playing golf using tools he had smuggled in during the mission’s second moonwalk activity on February 6, 1971. (Image: Getty)

The only other sport to be played on the moon is javelin. In the same Apollo 14 mission, Shepard threw a javelin that landed just a few meters ahead of his golf ball.

While there might not be an official course on the moon (yet), there are still plenty of golf courses in extreme locations here on Earth: 

Davis Golf Links in Antarctica: golfers have to play with brightly coloured balls so they don’t get lost in the snow-covered landscape.

Arctic Links in Finland’s Arctic Circle region: in the summer, this course is open all day long due to the 24-hour daylight.

Himalayan Golf Course in Pokhara, Nepal: visiting golfers can play among the clouds, right in front of the worlds largest mountain range.

None of these courses are more extreme than the single par 3 hole at the UN Joint Security Area between North and South Korea. You’d better be confident with your short game as the green is surrounded entirely by land mines!

Maybe it won’t be long until there’s a golf course in space, who knows. Until then, there’s plenty to look forward to down here on Earth with less than two weeks until this year’s first tee time at Augusta.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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15 days to go: Augusta wasn’t built in a day

With 15 days to go until the Masters, it’s time to have a closer look at the course at Augusta National itself. 

Did you know that there have been as many as 15 different architects who have led renovation projects on the course since it first opened in January 1933?

Bobby Jones and course architect Alastair Mackenzie designed the Augusta national together, supposedly inspired by the Old Course in St Andrews. Today, we’re looking at some of the biggest changes that have been made over the years- the ones people love and the more controversial choices. 

Let’s start with one of the biggest names in Augusta architecture: Tom Fazio. He has worked as the in-house architect at Augusta since the 1990s and has been responsible for overseeing renovation projects ever since, whether directly or indirectly.

In 2002, Tom Fazio’s design company lengthened nine holes, adding 285 yards to Augusta in total, and made various fairway and bunker changes.

Fazio (L) walks with Fred Couples off a tee box before the start of the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship on April 28, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Image: Getty)

Four years later, in 2006, Fazio’s team was met with criticism after they did some work on the fifth hole. The tee was shifted and pushed back a full 40 yards.

Other features of the course have not been changed as much over the years. The 10th hole, for example, is virtually unchanged from MacKenzie’s original design. The only really noteworthy adjustment on the 10th was when Perry Maxwell moved the green back all the way in 1937. 

More from the series: Is this the greatest golf shot of the 21st century?

In general, adding distance to holes has been well received. Architects and course designers usually justify such changes as a way to adapt to technological developments in the game. 

Less popular course adjustments involve tree planting.

To explain, when Bobby Jones and Alastair Mackenzie first designed the course, they wanted to give golfers the opportunity to be creative in their shots with wide open fairways. Over the years, architects have planted more and more trees on the course, making the opportunities for creativity ever less frequent. 

There is no better example of how the trees made more creative shots near impossible than on the 17th hole. It has been widely noted that on today’s narrower course, Jack Nicklaus would have never been able to make his legendary tee shot on the 17th in 1986 that led to one of the greatest moments in Masters history. 

Most of the so-called “narrowing” has taken place in rennovation project since 2002.

Marc Leishman of Australia plays his shot from the 17th tee during the second round of the 2018 Masters. Before the changes, the trees on the right would not have blocked a direct path to the green. (Image: Getty)

Tiger Woods is among the many top pros who has criticised the narrowing of Augusta. He claims that the version of the course when he first won in 1997 “wasn’t that hard”.  

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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Austrian Golf Open added to 2021 European Tour schedule

View of the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, Austria. (Image: Getty)

The European Tour today announced the Austrian Golf Open will be played at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg from April 15-18, 2021.

The tournament returns to the European Tour’s schedule after last being played in July 2020 when it marked the Tour’s resumption following a three month suspension in the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Austrian Golf Open, which has a prize fund of €1million, moves into the date vacated by the Tenerife Open at Golf Costa Adeje, which will now take place from April 29 – May 2 following the postponement on Friday of the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, in Vilamoura, due to ongoing travel difficulties. 

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have had to be agile with our scheduling and today’s announcement is another example of that. 

“We are naturally grateful to Diamond Country Club and the Austrian Golf Federation for once again helping us to continue to provide a full schedule and playing opportunities for our members.

“Diamond Country Club is obviously a venue that we know very well, and we look forward to returning there next month.”

Dr. Peter Enzinger, President of the Austrian Golf Federation, said: “We are very proud that the European Tour has, once again, chosen Austria to host a European Tour event and that the Austrian Golf Federation is able to contribute.

“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose major challenges for international sporting bodies, but in spite of this, working together with our partners in the Federal Ministry of Sport, we have been able to provide all the necessary information, in a very short space of time, to the European Tour making their decision much easier.

“Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg has distinguished itself many times as an excellent host already and we are very happy that Europe’s elite will be teeing off again this year in the region of Lower Austria. Obviously, the tournament will go ahead in compliance with the strictest Covid-19 prevention measures, but they will definitely not detract from the delight of the game of golf at its best.”

Christian Guzy, President of Diamond Country Club, said: “Our long-standing collaboration with the European Tour stems from, and is based on, mutual trust, especially given the difficult circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Last year, along with the European Tour, we showed courage in hosting the first European Tour tournament of the COVID-era, a challenge we mastered beyond expectations.

“With this year’s tournament, we hope to once again showcase golf in Austria and use the international media presence to support local tourism as the summer season is nearing.

“I am grateful to the everyone at the Austrian Golf Federation and the Ministry for allowing us to represent our country internationally. Of course, we are also grateful to everyone else who has made it possible to organise the 2021 Austrian Golf Open within such a tight timeframe.”

The Austrian Golf Open was first played on the European Tour in 1990 when Major Champion Bernhard Langer won the title.

This year’s tournament will be the 22nd edition and the 11th consecutive time it has been played at Diamond Country Club, in Atzenbrugg, near Vienna, which is part of the European Tour Destinations network of world class golf venues. Scotland’s Marc Warren became the most recent winner of the Austrian Open last July, finishing one shot clear of Germany’s Marcel Schneider to claim his first European Tour victory in six years.                                                                   

(Text: European Tour Communications)

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16: Is this the greatest golf shot of the 21st century?

Number 16 on our countdown can only be one thing: TW’s chip on the 16th in the final round of the 2005 Masters.

The Masters has played host to some historical moments over the years. Few were better captured than Tiger Woods’ legendary chip on the 16th hole during the 2005 masters.  

Saying it’s iconic might be underselling it a little. Every individual detail of the shot, from the clever angle right down to the way the ball hung on the edge before quietly tipping in to the 16th hole could have been described as amazing. Together, this sequence would go down in history. The roar of applause that broke the tense silence would echo in Masters history.

“In your life have you seen anything like that?” reacted commentator Verne Lundquist.

Speaking about it later, Woods called that moment as gravity finally took over, an “earthquake”. 

The 16th hole at Augusta is a 170-yard par 3, named “Redbud” after the flowering tree which blossoms every year between March and May. The 16th’s raised and uneven green makes it a tricky shot, even for the top-level pros.

Woods started the day that Sunday three strokes behind leader Chris Di Marco. Before this shot he was trailing Di Marco by just one. Conveniently for Woods, Di Marco went on to miss a birdie afterwards and they went on to the 17th, Woods now 2 strokes ahead with two holes to go. 

A 21-year old Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 1997 before going on to win twice consecutively in 2001 and 2002. In 2005, Woods kept his cool in a tense playoff to par on the 18th, sinking a birdie and claiming his 4th green jacket. 

Taken moments after the winning putt on the 18th in Augusta on April 10th, 2005. Woods’ celebratory roar is one of the most recognisable in sports. (Image: Getty)

Despite recovering from various injuries, and many doubting his physical ability, Woods made history yet again with an incredible comeback at the 2019 Masters where he won for a fifth time after 14 years. At age 43, it was his first major championship win in eleven years and his 15th major title overall. 

More from our countdown series: Golf’s Origins in America

Last month’s car crash dashed any hopes of Woods attending the Masters this year. He maintained severe injuries to his legs and is since in recovery.

Fans had hoped to see him compete for a chance to take his 6th green jacket and join Jack Nicklaus’ record top spot. 

If there’s one thing we can say for certain it’s that historically speaking and no matter what, you can never really count Tiger out. 

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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17 days to go: Coming to America

17: Kolf in the USA

In the United States, golf is an $84.1 billion industry and directly affects over 2 million jobs.

With countless tournaments taking place on US soil every year, and 24 million Americans who say they actively play golf, you could say golf has become intrinsic to American culture

But did you ever wonder how it started out in America? Or how long it’s been around? Well, like most things that are considered American today, golf was brought over by immigrants.

READ MORE: Why do golf courses have 18 holes?

The earliest traces of the sport in North America go back to Dutch immigrants in the 17th century who played Kolf in the streets of Fort Orange- now Albany, NY.

No that’s not a typo. Kolf is a Dutch game and an early variation of what we know today as golf. The sport was typically played a smaller scale than modern golf and is perhaps more comparable to mini golf. Some believe that Kolf contributed to the development of modern golf in Scotland. Although, as you might expect, there is a lot of debate around this.

Played in groups of four, the game involves hitting a ball over a certain distance whereby first people to reach their opponents’ starting point wins.

A painting by Hendrick Avercamp of people playing winter Kolf c. 1625. Kolf was traditionally played on ice in the winter and in fields or in the streets during the summer.

While it is a very traditional sport, it is still played in a few communities in the Netherlands. There are 14 courses still in operation and all but one of these are in the North Holland province.

Since the 17th century, golf (and variations thereof) steadily increased in popularity in the US. It was only in the 19th century that the competitive and commercial side of the sport really took off.

Long story short, it took roughly 275 years between the arrival of America’s first “golfers” and the first tee-off at the Augusta National Invitation Tournament (now The Masters) in March 1934.

This article is part of our Countdown to The Masters series. Join us every day between now and April 7 for fun facts and interesting stories about golf and The Masters tournament.

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European Tour

Romain ready to take the title at Kenya Savannah Classic

(Image Credits: Getty)

Romain Langasque is hoping that his form at Karen Country Club will culminate in a second European Tour victory at the Kenya Savannah Classic supported by Absa, which tees off on Tuesday and marks the second consecutive event at the Nairobi venue.

The Frenchman enjoyed his best round of the week on Sunday at the Magical Kenya Open presented by Johnnie Walker as a six under 65 earned him a top five finish.

That added to an already impressive record at Karen Country Club – Langasque already boasted a runner-up finish there on the Challenge Tour in 2016 as well as a tied sixth finish on the European Tour in 2019. Incidentally, on all three occasions he has carded 65 in the final round.

“It was a really solid final round. It’s a place that I feel really good. I finished second here on the Challenge Tour, I think I finished sixth two years ago, and it’s a course that really suits my game. I play really offensively here and I feel really good out on that course and I enjoy being here.

“It was a really good idea from the European Tour to put back-to-back events on again because of the situation we have at the moment. I’m really happy to be playing here again because it’s a course where I feel really good, I love the shape of the course, the greens, and everything is good. I feel really happy to be here and I look forward to have a good week again next week.

“I have been really good with my irons over the last few weeks but not so good with my driver and my putter but last week was a lot better with the driver and putter. If my iron game becomes a bit stronger next week, it could be better than this week. I will have a good rest, because we only have one day to rest, and then I’m going to go back to fight again.”

Roman Langasque

The 25-year-old has another good omen on his side – his maiden European Tour victory came in the second of back-to-back events on the same golf course, at the ISPS HANDA Wales Open at Celtic Manor last August.

The winner of the first event of that Celtic Manor double-header was Sam Horsfield, whose first appearance of the 2021 Race to Dubai yielded a tied eighth place finish at last week’s Kenya Magical Open. The Englishman enjoyed his first experience of Nairobi and a final round 65 means he enters the Kenya Savannah Classic full of confidence.

(Text: European Tour Communications)

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18 days to go: the Masters 2021

Get excited for the Masters 2021 with the start of our daily countdown!

With everyone looking forward to a slight return to normality at this year’s Masters – taking place in April as scheduled – Golf Post is brining you daily instalments in our countdown series as we get closer the Masters 2021.

Each day, you’ll get a daily dose of fun facts and interesting stories, both about the masters and golf in general. Each instalment will be related to the number of days left on the countdown before the first tee-off on April 8.

Sunday marks 18 days before the first round starts.

No points for guessing why we’re starting at 18. We all know that it’s the number of holes on a golf course but have you ever thought about why golf courses have 18 holes?

18 is now the standard but it’s not an obvious number to choose and it turns out that it wasn’t always that way. Go back to the early 1700s and you would find basic golf layouts with any number of holes. 

Our story goes back to a group of golfers in St Andrews who decided to combine some short holes and reduce the number of the Old Course from 22 to 18. That was in 1764. Even then, you could have predicted that this would become the standard. The standard golf-course layout at that time was actually 10 holes, 8 of which were played twice in a normal round. 

The Old Course in St Andrews, home to the R&A, is known fondly as the home of golf and has played a huge role in the history of the sport. (Image: Getty)

The original architect of Augusta National, Alistair MacKenzie, deeply admired the Old Course and is said to have based the design for his course on the layout in St Andrews.

By the 1900s, golf course design followed the St Andrews model and adopted 18 holes as standard. In 1958 the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews issued a set of new rules.

The very first of these new rules would make a round of the Links, or 18 holes a match, unless otherwise stipulated. What had become common practice was now official and the number 18 has ever since been central to the game of golf.

Other rumours about the number being based on managing the time it took to maintain early courses or even the time it takes to drink a bottle of whiskey while playing are interesting but unfortunately this cannot be proven!

Check back on Monday for number 17 on our countdown to the Masters.